The day the POLL went away: NIN's The Fragile

you're a slog

harsh but fair

Hello.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW_Ws04Vs_0

Per an NIN Hotline tweet:

Check out this youtube "album" of Fragility (1999-2000) performance recordings assembled by ETS member mauro995. "I made a heavier-than-aatchb live album of the Fragile era with some recordings from the NIN Live Archive" says mauro995.

Briefly read that as "heavier than abacab."

this album finally clicked for me, there'd been moments i'd loved before but it was just too dense/too heavy/too abstract/not pop enough for me before, but none of that was an issue today

it's totally too much to listen to all as once, but taken as two separate-but-related albums it's fantastic, which feels pretty unusual for a double album? like the typical modes of double albums are 'overwhelming messy stylistic grab bag' or 'too long to be a single album but not quite enough to be two separate things' but this doesn't fall into either of those? and the sequencing is perfect

the right disc is a little less fully-formed than the left and has the album's only dud in "starfuckers, inc." (but even that has the nice quiet part in the middle) but you could totally cut it without losing anything?

"the day the world went away" is the best thing on this even though it's probably the most straightforward. a gorgeous wall of guitars

actually "the perfect drug" would have been the perfect replacement for "starfuckers" wouldn't it? i should give that a try

its abrupt end doesn't quite work there but otherwise it's exactly what the album needs

are there non-nin bands that encapsulate the "just like you imagined" vibe?

Maybe my favorite album? today, anyway.

Also “Into The Void” still goes <3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8LEheSUTGE

lol @ the one disc versions upthread
YOU BABIES

jk jk

the big comedown also gooeeesss

agreed into the void is top shelf

was a freshman in highschool when this came out, thought it was pretty cool after listening to downward spiral a million times but I very clearly remember talking to the class goth about it and he was absolutely scandalized, "his music used to mean something, man" too pop I guess?

granted this guy was the real deal, 100% black wardrobe, tortured soul, piercing his ears with a lighter and a safety pin in between class, wonder what he's up to now

really like big comedown too and also please

i have a reformed mega-goth friend who apparently got off the NIN boat after Downward Spiral! too commercial.
lol there’s just no pleasing ppl

The Fragile is so perfectly sequenced, i love how the instrumentals balance the before & after songs so well in terms of mood as well as just sounds

also i love the way he uses strings & piano so much on this album, adds some really gorgeous textures

imo i think piano is his secret weapon, so many of his best hooks are on piano

agreed, and that wouldn't surprise me if that helped lead him to doing movie scores.

i remember my mind being blown as a teenager when this was released and reading the liner notes that dr. dre was involved. i just reread them and had absolutely no idea steve albini had a small bit in it and wonder what's the story on that.

This album rules.

XP IIRC, Albini just recorded some drum/percussion tracks.

I think that's right, they tracked the drums, or at least some drums, with him. Wouldn't be surprised if that was for future use as samples, too.

This version of The Big Comedown -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9b7K1D2z74

He needs to do an album with those backing singers

NIN was absolutely one of my favorite bands when this came out. They weren't anymore afterwards. Trying to think of why now and I only remember being really embarrassed to be listening to Starfuckers inc.

I still have very good memories of the live show I saw in support of this album. They were amazing live.

I still have very good memories of the live show I saw in support of this album. They were amazing live.

Yeah, I saw this tour at Madison Square Garden — it was a really, really good show.

yeah it was the first time i saw him use the full sized projection screens in front of the band, blew my mind

also remember a half-sold arena
ppl really did not like this album at the time

"starfuckers inc." is so bad and it would have been so much better if "the perfect drug" replaced it.

i get why this album underperformed though when it's so much denser and less accessible than the downward spiral, came after a 5 and a half year gap, and something like 1/3 of the tracks are instrumentals.

one of my strongest memories of The Fragile tour was standing behind a fan and watching her play “air piano” to “The Frail”

it was weird & funny but kind of cool somehow

It was too long, too all over the place, too willing to be a little goofy - after the relative concision of TDS this seemed ridiculous

I listened to it a lot at the time but never became obsessed with it. It’s been decades since I heard it in full, should change that and see how it strikes me.

it is ridiculous and not as good as the downward spiral, but it's still great and flows surprisingly well for a double album

yeah it was the first time i saw him use the full sized projection screens in front of the band, blew my mind

They def. had the scrim for projection when I saw him tour "The Downward Spiral." It's such a cool effect, I wish more bands did stuff like that.

"The Fragile" is definitely uneven and all over the place, like most good double ("") albums. I remember him saying that he needed Bob Ezrin's help to sequence it. Was this the reported heights of his drug use? Anyway, I think its length is the only thing that ultimately makes this less accessible than "The Downward Spiral," which is more aggressive, more abrasive and also kinda uneven; my energy always seems to fade after "A Warm Place," with that run of "Eraser," "Reptile" and the title track. Of course, those songs (and "A Warm Place") would all fit pretty well on "The Fragile," so ...

But yeah, "Perfect Drug" instead of "Starfuckers" would have ruled, though isn't "Perfect Drug" one of the few songs Reznor often outright dismisses?

he did used to dismiss it but they finally started playing it live on their last few tours so maybe he's come around on it

i think the fragile is way more abrasive and less pop than the downward spiral. there's no "closer" or anything

Sure there is! Into the Void.

I never got into The Fragile, should try again. With Teeth was my "we're so back" moment, even saw them on that tour and they were great (Josh Freese on drums).

It was too long, too all over the place, too willing to be a little goofy - after the relative concision of TDS this seemed ridiculous

I listened to it a lot at the time but never became obsessed with it. It’s been decades since I heard it in full, should change that and see how it strikes me.

This is pretty much where I fall, too. I haven't listened to it in so long I can't even remember half the songs. It definitely feels like a candidate for "chop it down to a single disc" pruning. Might give that some thought today.

what if it’s actually good at the length it already is

It does require a little pruning (ie, delete Starfuckers)

imo the album is improved when it's longer ("10 miles high" and "new flesh" added back in)

it was my first nin album though and i'll love it forever, nothing i'd change about it, not even "starfuckers" (great karaoke song)

like i just think of hearing "la mer" for the first time in sequence and how much that expanded my notion of what music could be??? in how it fits the despairing mood of the record even though it is closer to jazz fusion than any previous nin song

i think one of the ways i got my mom into them was being like "hey mom check out this funky/jazzy piano song on this otherwise dark hopeless glitchy double album about hitting and spending a significant amount of time at rock bottom"

yeah it was the first time i saw him use the full sized projection screens in front of the band, blew my mind

also remember a half-sold arena
ppl really did not like this album at the time

― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 12 March 2024 04:42 (twelve hours ago) link

The show I saw was def sold-out and it was maybe a shade less fantastic than the time I'd seen them in 95, which was maybe the most unhinged "big" show I've ever seen (Trent fully kicked Robin Finck off the front of the stage into the crowd, much instrument destruction, etc)

The full sized projection screens were awesome

I don't know how I feel about this album, as much as I like the idea of it has never really stuck with me, it does sound pretty cool listening to it now

i also like his concept of The Fragile as a reverse of downward spiral, so starfuckers appearing towards the tail end makes sense (and tonally correlates to say, mr self destruct or march of pigs on DS)

The Fragile came out the same day as To Venus And Back. I was just turned 20 and I deeply associated NIN and Tori with my teenage years. I probably was mid-metamorphosis, psychologically. I bought both albums the day they came out, two double albums from two of my favourite teen artists. I remember 'really liking' certain parts, "La Mer" was nice, the production on "We're In This Together" was amazing. Same with Tori. But I felt deeply embarrassed by "Starfuckers" and Trent's lyrics in general. I felt embarrassed hearing Tori sing "bleese, yeah, bleese, yeah" and "blossom. Riot poof". I felt embarrassed for myself and embarrassed for them. I returned both albums and spent the year listening to cooler music. I need to listen to both albums again, now, I don't think I've heard either since I was 20

I don't know how I feel about this album, as much as I like the idea of it has never really stuck with me, it does sound pretty cool listening to it now

― chr1sb3singer, Tuesday, March 12, 2024 12:13 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Listening to it today I kept wanting to the mix of the record to be a little messier, I kept wishing he's amplify the weird little bits here & there and leaning harder into the prog-funk of songs like "Into the Void" and "Where is Everybody", for a big, over-stuffed double record for me it sometimes feels a bit samey

All right, here it is, entirely predictable but much more enjoyable, to me anyway:

Nine Inch Nails - Less Fragile

1. Somewhat Damaged
2. The Day the World Went Away
3. The Wretched
4. We're In This Together
5. No, You Don't
6. La Mer
7. The Great Below
8. The Way Out Is Through
9. Into the Void
10. Where Is Everybody?
11. Please
12. Complication
13. I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally
14. The Big Come Down

Total running time: 64:33

I bought this and Stereolab’s “Cobra and Phases” on the same day on CD, driving 90 minutes each way after getting off work. At that age/time - I was 22, fresh out of college - it was an event.

I’m gonna listen to that track list unperson thx

idk how anyone can leave off "just like you imagined" from a single-disc edit

i don’t know what in the ADD is wrong with you all that you can’t enjoy a 2 disc epic as god intended

Hell, it's half an hour shorter than "Speakerboxx/The Love Below," and nowhere near as uneven.

thank youuuu

re: accessibility i think the downward spiral is just a much catchier album and still draws more on his synthpop roots - even the heavier tracks like "mr self destruct" and "march of the pigs" are rather pop. on the fragile, even "into the void" is nowhere near as catchy as "closer". the fragile is just denser, weirder, and heavier

@chap are you still interested in running a nine inch nails poll? if you're not i might do that sometime soon